First final, first title – Ulsan Hyundai thrashed Al Ahli 3-0 to become the third South Korean club in four years to be crowned kings of Asia, having reached the final for the first time.

Hide Caption

2 of 4

Asian champions go 'Gangnam Style'4 photos

Leading from the front – Ulsan captain Kwak Tae-hwi celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the final in front of his home fans.

Hide Caption

3 of 4

Asian champions go 'Gangnam Style'4 photos

Savor the moment – Ulsan's supporters had much to celebrate, but their team is struggling to qualify for next year's tournament after falling off the pace in the K-League.

Hide Caption

4 of 4

Story highlights

Ulsan Hyundai earn place at FIFA Club World Cup by winning Asian title

K-League team beats Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli 3-0 in Champions League final

Third time in four years that a Korean club has won the final

Ulsan won all nine games but battling to qualify for next season's tournament

South Korean singer Psy has conquered the world with his "Gangnam Style" hit -- and his country continued its dominance of Asian club football on Saturday.

Ulsan Hyundai's players celebrated by performing a victory dance in homage to the pop phenomenon after winning the region's Champions League title for the first time.

Ulsan defeated Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli 3-0 to become the third K-League team in four years to lift the trophy.

"Ulsan have had to wait for a long time to come to final so I told the players we must win the game and to do that we must play a normal game," coach Kim Ho-gon said after goals from captain Kwak Tae-hwi, Brazilian striker Rafinha and midfielder Kim Seung-yong completed a run of nine successive wins in the competition.

"After the first group game every game felt like a final, but the final did not feel like a final as we had done so well in the semifinal."

Muamba returns to scene of seizure 8 photos

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Closure for Muamba – Fabrice Muamba wept as he addressed the crowd at White Hart Lane -- the English soccer ground where he collapsed due to cardiac arrest during a match in March 2012.

Hide Caption

1 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Eyes of the world – His collapse while playing for Bolton in an FA Cup match against Tottenham was seen by a worldwide television audience -- and the cameras were there again on his first return to the London stadium in November the same year.

Hide Caption

2 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Capital action – Before attending the Europa League match, Muamba had been at London's O2 Arena to watch tennis star Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Hide Caption

3 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Old friends – Muamba announced his retirement from football in August 2012, but the following month he attended a match played by his former club Bolton, which has dropped into the second division.

Hide Caption

4 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Flame still burns – Muamba took part in the Olympic torch relay for the London 2012 Games. Here he lights the cauldron on day 64 of the flame's 8,000-mile journey around the UK.

Hide Caption

5 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Wembley guest – In May 2012, he and his now wife Shauna were guests at the FA Cup final, which was won by Chelsea.

Hide Caption

6 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Life saver – His life was saved by cardiologist Andrew Deaner, a Tottenham fan who came out of the crowd to help with his resuscitation.

Hide Caption

7 of 8

Muamba returns to scene of seizure8 photos

Heart stops – Muamba collapsed before halftime and the match was abandoned as he was taken to hospital after receiving several defibrillator shocks to restart his heart, which stopped for 78 minutes. He was discharged only a month later after making a remarkably quick recovery.

Hide Caption

8 of 8

EXPAND GALLERY

Sculpting football icons 10 photos

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Fellow Scots – Like Alex Ferguson, sculptor Philip Jackson was born in Scotland. Here he is pictured working on The Bomber Command Memorial Sculpture, which is situated in London's Green Park, and was unveiled by the Queen in June.

Hide Caption

1 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

England legend Moore – Jackson was also the artist who created the statue of former England captain Bobby Moore, which is located at Wembley Stadium. The statue, standing six meters in height and weighing approximately two tons, commemorates when Moore captained England to World Cup glory in 1966.

Hide Caption

2 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Man Utd's "Holy Trinity" – The Alex Ferguson sculpture is the third Manchester United piece Jackson has produced. His statue of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, which stands outside Old Trafford, depicts three of the club's greatest players.

Hide Caption

3 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Busby in bronze – Jackson's first Manchester United related sculpture depicted former manager Matt Busby, who was a key figure in creating the club's attacking philosophy of football which Ferguson has helped maintain.

Hide Caption

4 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Ferguson artwork – Jackson's bronze scultpture of Ferguson is nine foot in height. It will be unveiled ahead of United's home game against Queens Park Rangers on November 23.

Hide Caption

5 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Bobby Robson remembered – A number of other English clubs have commissioned artworks to remember former managers, notably Bobby Robson, who managed a number of clubs including Ipswich Town, Barcelona and Newcastle United as well as England. This statue of Robson is outside Newcastle United's St James' Park.

Linesman cast – It is not just managers and players who have been immortalized in sculpture form. In Baku, Azerbaijan, there is a statue of the 1966 World Cup final linesman Tofig Bahramov outside the Tofig Bahramov stadium. Here former West Germany goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski and former England striker Sir Geoff Hurst are pictured standing next to the the Bahramov statue in June 2011.

Hide Caption

8 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Zizou's bronze butt – The moment French football superstar Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italy's Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final has been immortalized in a five meter bronze statue. The statue, positioned outside of Paris' Pompidou Museum, is the work of Algerian-born artist Adel Abdessemed.

Hide Caption

9 of 10

Sculpting football icons10 photos

Tribute to singer Jackson – More unusually in April 2011, Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed unveiled a statue in tribute to singer Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, outside the English Premier League club's Craven Cottage ground.

Hide Caption

10 of 10

EXPAND GALLERY

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries 13 photos

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Ultra culture – The 2011-12 Egyptian revolution thrust an unlikely group of young people into the country's political conscience: organized groups of soccer fans called "ultras."

Hide Caption

1 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Round one – Groups of well organized soccer fans, numbering several thousand, came to prominence during the Battle of the Camels in Tahrir Square. Graffiti eulogizing the ultras covered most of the nearby walls.

Hide Caption

2 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Red is the color – Emboldened by their success, groups of ultras would attend and lead many of the post-Mubarak protests in Cairo against the military regime.

Hide Caption

3 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

V for Vendetta – The most prominent group was the Ahlawy, the ultras of Al Ahly, Egypt's biggest and most successful club.

Hide Caption

4 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Year zero – The Ahlawy was formed in 2007 as a way of showing better organized support for the team. But it soon became much more.

Hide Caption

5 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Ring of steel – Such were their numbers that security was tight. Members would be arrested and revolutionary, anti-regime chants could be heard from the stands.

Hide Caption

6 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

The tragedy of Port Said – Post Mubarak in 2011, soccer returned to Egypt after a brief suspension of the league. In the security vacuum violence grew. In February this year, 74 fans of Al Ahly, many of them Ahlawy members, died in Port Said after they were attacked by rival fans in the stands.

Hide Caption

7 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Remembering the 74 – The ultra groups claim that the deaths weren't the result of thuggery, as claimed by the authorities, but planned by the military as pay-back for their role in the revolution. The trial of over 70 people allegedly involved is ongoing.

Hide Caption

8 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Song for the dead – Marches were held across Egypt to honor the dead. Here a member of the Ahlawy leads marchers in song in the northern city of Alexandria. The soccer league was canceled. In their aim to achieve justice for the dead, the Ahlawy has launched a successful direct action campaign against the restart of the soccer league until the trial of those accused of the Port Said tragedy is completed.

Hide Caption

9 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Road to Brazil? – The lack of competitive soccer is just one of the many problems that has faced Egyptian national team coach Bob Bradley. The former coach of the U.S. men's team has been charged with taking Egypt to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.

Hide Caption

10 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Lockdown – His first competitive match was a World Cup qualifier earlier this year. Fears of violence were so high, the match was played without fans in a remote military stadium outside Alexandria.

Hide Caption

11 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

Egypt United – Despite the revolution and despite the team having played little or no football, Egypt won their first two World Cup qualifying matches.

Hide Caption

12 of 13

Egypt's soccer revolutionaries13 photos

The road to the final – Even more incredible has been the performance of Al Ahly in the African Champions League. Despite having no league, and having to play all their home games behind closed doors, the team has reached the two -leg final and is hoping for a seventh title overall.

Hide Caption

13 of 13

EXPAND GALLERY

The victory at Ulsan's Munsu Stadium earned the club a place at December's Club World Cup in Japan, with a quarterfinal tie against Mexico's Monterrey.

"I am so happy for the players," Kim said on the Asian Football Confederation website. "They wanted to play in the FIFA Club World Cup and it is the same for me. This is the happiest day in my coaching career."

Al Ahli had reached the final for the first time in the tournament's present format, though the club lost in the title match of the 1986 competition when it was known as the Asian Club Championship.

"The team learned a lot this year by playing against different strong teams," said Ahli's Czech coach Karel Jarolim.

"Al Ahli is a very young team and these players have gained experience this season and they will work hard for next year and will try to do our best."

His team booked a place in next year's tournament by finishing second in the Saudi league, but Ulsan may miss out after dropping outside the K-League's qualification places.